By Kevin

Happy Birthday, Angelina! On Monday night we brought home the newest member of the family. I may be a little biased but I think she's one of the three most adorable babies ever. :) So far she mostly eats and sleeps but she's very aware of everything going on around her. Julie's been amazing, taking care of her day and night. She's going to be home with Angie for four months before returning to work and I don't know which of them is luckier.


The before picture was taken on April 8th and the after picture was this evening. I cut things a bit too close with the nursery remodel but had the bulk of the room done in time for baby. Over the last few days I did the rest of the molding and moved in the closet organizer and bookshelves. We've added the kids' bookshelves, reading light, and pillows into Angie's room so that all three of them can get story time together before bed. Between their book loving parents and their grade school teacher grandma, the kids have lots of opportunities to get new books. They now have a pair of 7' shelf units for their library and are at two-thirds capacity with about fifteen linear feet of books!


Meanwhile, we've tried to keep change to a minimum for Alex and Ana and make sure they get lots of parent time. Today Ana came along to Alex's karate practice and played with me at the adjacent park. After sparring was over, Alex joined us and we played frisbee for a while before heading home. It won't be long before all five of us are at the park together.

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By Julie

Because we couldn't go to the Coachella Music Festival this year, the regrettably human and therefore illogically petty part of my brain wants to believe it has already jumped the shark. So why am I sitting here anxiously waiting for the live webcast to start?

Earlier today I was on ROFLCon watching this session's live webcast. The online chatters who were watching the discussion with me were all being "extra special," especially once the live Q and A turned to issues of gender and race, so I left. I guess I could have tried to challenge my fellow chatters, but I really wasn't in the mood. Now I wish I had watched the LOLCATS session. At least they were willing to address the gender issue.

A couple of friends suggested that I update my Facebook profile with the progress of my labor. (Not that it's started yet.) My response? So not gonna happen! But I offered to text them when I head to the hospital.

Labels: music, news, pregnancy

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By Julie

Today I read about this violent hate crime against an Asian guy in nearby San Dimas. Kevin and I lived there for about a year before the kids were born. It was a very homogeneous place. Aside from the employees at the one single decent Chinese fast food place in town, I rarely saw another Asian face. There was a passable coffee house where we hung out along with the other college kids, but the jeering from the loud drunk faux cowboys who went line-dancing at the bar upstairs sometimes made it a less than pleasant experience. By the time Alex was born we were living elsewhere, thank goodness, and when we started house-hunting we didn't even bother looking in San Dimas. In my ideal town, no ethnic group would be in the majority, and while Walnut looks like it's headed to become yet another Asian 'burb, at least for now it's still fairly diverse.


Here's a picture of the nursery as it looks now. Kevin has installed most of the chair rail (slim piece of wood in the middle of the wall) and base moulding (wide piece of wood at the bottom of the wall). He did an amazing job. Trust me when I say the picture doesn't do it justice.

Today was going to be my last day at work before going on leave, but I called in sick. I spent most of the day lying on the sofa in a daze. I figured it was my body's way of getting me some rest before having to deal with the exhaustion of labor, which incidentally has not started yet.

Labels: home improvement, lusers, news, pregnancy, work

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By Julie

Last week a skinny envelope arrived from the life insurance company. I ripped it open and speed-read the letter approving me for coverage. Phew! This ends several months of bureaucracy that began late last year when I first mailed in my application. At one point they even sent a phlebotomist *to my house*! It felt like such a strange invasion of privacy. I even asked if I could drive to a lab instead but was told that wasn't an option. So Kevin ended up coming home during his lunch hour to keep watch as a stranger sat on our couch and drew a gazillion tubes of blood from my arm, then made polite chitchat with her while I retreated to the bathroom with a small cup. We photocopied all the forms she had me fill out and scrutinized them for any missed details after she left but didn't find anything revealing. I had already told them in my initial application that I was pregnant, so that wouldn't have been news to them. My best guess is they would have tested for HIV and cancer. Good to know I'm clean. And a relief to have one fewer item on our baby to do list.

Earlier today Kevin ran out to Target and bought a new infant car seat using just a fraction of the gift money we got from my generous parents, coworkers, and friends. (Who says every kid after the first one gets nothing but hand-me-downs? Not ours!) Now he's back working on the nursery. He just finished laying down the flooring and is now installing the chair rail. Meanwhile I'm in full on nesting mode. Yesterday I cleaned the bathrooms, and today I've been waddling back and forth between the washer and dryer and the suitcase in our bedroom, trying to catch up on all the laundry I didn't do last weekend due to work and pack for the hospital at the same time.

This morning I weighed in at +25 lbs, same as last week. If this remains steady, I'll end up gaining the exact same amount of weight as I did when I was pregnant with Alex and Ana. I'm so boring and predictable ;)

Labels: pregnancy

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